Teen Survives Acrobatic Car Crash Near Marguerite

After flying off an embankment, hitting a tree and smashing through the windshield of his Honda Civic, a 19-year-old man landed in a Coral Gardens backyard late Sunday night, battered but expected to survive.

The driver's mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said her son was "fine" after being hospitalized, and no alcohol or drugs were involved.

The car was traveling west on La Barca near Marguerite when it flew off an embankment on the opposite side of the street and sailed midair into a narrow pine tree. The car's back end then swung to the right, smashing through the bark of another tree and bringing the car to rest atop an iron fence.

"He was very shocked and didn't know what was going on," said a Coral Gardens resident who was the first to see the driver after the crash.

"(The driver) said 'Is my car OK?'" the resident recalled. "I said, 'Forget about that. Are you OK?' I just wanted to make sure he was alive. Just by looking at him, he's lucky."

To make sure the driver stayed conscious, the resident kept talking to him until rescue workers arrived.

On Monday morning, debris from the crash cluttered the back patios of two Coral Gardens condos.

"My whole patio is covered in glass," one resident said, referring to the home's shattered back window.

Deputies didn't respond to a message Patch left at noon Monday.